


and i see you (you're walking across the campus)

by ExquisiteRose



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, F/F, Pre femslash or gen, canon details come into play, professor/student trope, spoilery summary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-05-05 03:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5360027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExquisiteRose/pseuds/ExquisiteRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because if Jane ends up with any professor, shouldn't it be our Petra?</p><p> (or, alternatively, how i wrote a college proffesor/student au for jetra)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. cruel professor, studying romances

**Author's Note:**

> **inspiration:** campus // vampire weekend; _"and i see you, you're walking across the campus, cruel professor, studying romances. how am i supposed to pretend i never want to see you again?"_
> 
>  **notes:** au but more of a canon divergence maybe? many canon things are the same or similar. also, p.s., moore is lachlan’s last name! 
> 
> i also post about jetra on [my tumblr](http://themalfoymanor.co.vu)!

Jane Gloriana Villanueva has had a long year.

In between being accidentally artificially inseminated by the sister of the "sperm donor" and discovering she had a father, you could say that the year had been very long indeed.

Jane was prepared to move forward, though. She wasn't going to let this put her life on hold and had actually decided to let it propel her into her future.

Her future currently consisted of a) finding a reliable babysitter for Mateo, b) surviving her first semester at graduate school, and c) balancing life with a new baby, a new father, an ex-fiancee, and a new co-parent. Not necessarily in that order.

You might say that applying to graduate school to become a writer is a risky move, especially considering her telanovela-esque circumstances. In fact, Jane says that it's a risky move and so does her mother, Xiomara, and her abuela, Alba.

Jane has come to realize, though, that all the careful planning in the world doesn't stop fate from finding you and setting you on your path. It definitely didn't stop her from becoming pregnant, despite being a virgin and living a life as opposite from her mother's as she could.

It was time for Jane to, perhaps, err on the risky side every once and awhile, to gamble a little when the world is already one big gamble itself.

So. Graduate school.

Jane's heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Stepping off the bus and waving a thank you to the bus driver, she pulled the strap of her bag nervously over her shoulder, tugging her headphones from her ears.

The college campus was intimidating. Tall and towering buildings, looming offices, and almost every visible surface swarming with other students, ones confident in their decisions, unlike Jane.

It was possible she was projecting, but Jane was suddenly sure she had  made the wrong decision. Pulling out her cellphone and speed-dialing her mother for a pep talk, she stepped forward quickly out of the bus' exiting traffic and straight into another person.

"Oof!" Her phone slipped out her hands as she and the person she hit into fell to the ground with the force of their collision. A tiny, tinny voice asked, _"Jane? Jane, are you there?"_ Jane scrambled for her phone, muttered a quick, "I'll call you back," to Xiomara and rushed to help up the woman she had knocked down.

With long blonde curls, pale skin, and a scowling mouth, the woman accepted Jane's assistance before pulling away from her to pick up her fallen binder and papers. Jane bent down to help, thankful she no longer had an enormous pregnant belly and was therefore able do this with ease.

"I'm so sorry," Jane apologized as she handed over some of the scattered papers she helped retrieve. "I wasn't paying attention where I was going--"

"Obviously," the other woman interrupted. Rudely, in Jane's opinion, but then again, she _had_ just been knocked down. She was allowed to be a little disgruntled, Jane reminded herself.

"Yeah, um, sorry again." When the other woman only glanced at her and then set to dusting off her slacks, Jane continued, now somewhat awkwardly. "I'm Jane," she introduced herself, extending a hand. The woman looked at it somewhat dismissively before finally shaking it. "And you are?" Jane asked hesitantly.

"Late," the woman said tersely. "And leaving," she added and began to walk away. Jane hurried after her.

"I'm sorry," Jane began again, somewhat heatedly this time. Didn't this woman understand it was an accident?

"You said that already," the blonde interrupted again, unaffected and sounding bored.

Jane let out a small, inaudible, offended gasp, and finally stepped in the woman's path. "Look, I didn't mean to make you fall and I really _am_ sorry..." 

Jane trailed off suggestively and the other woman sighed before supplying, "Petra."

Jane gave a small smile. "Petra," she repeated. "I'm sorry for crashing into you and knocking you over."

Petra sneered. "I'm sorry, too, because between the fall and this conversation, I am now almost irreparably late." She leveled a glance at Jane, who was looking offended once again, and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Scoffing, Jane stepped out of her path and swept her arms in the direction the other woman -- Petra -- was going. "Sure, yeah, by all means, your highness."

Petra gave Jane a small, unfriendly smile and continued on her way, leaving Jane staring after her disbelievingly. She was only pulled out of her shock by the bell tolling, signalling that classes were beginning. Cursing, Jane pulled out her class schedule and headed towards the B building, room #26. Moore, P.

Jane shook herself and decided to forget all about that rude woman, Petra. She was determined to not let this affect her day, despite the encounter almost certainly being the omen she had felt earlier, and, with a renewed sense of confidence in her decision to attend college, marched to her first class of the day.

__

Jane was wrong, she realized with muted horror, as she walked into her poetry class. She was wrong about her encounter with Petra earlier being the omen because her encounter with her, right now, as her poetry professor was definitely the real omen.

While Petra was facing the whiteboard, Jane set off for a desk quickly, hoping to put off their reuniting just a moment longer. Unfortunately, just as Jane was walking past Petra's desk, Petra turned around, announcing, "Please make sure to refer to the seating chart," faltering slightly when she saw Jane, green eyes widening in surprise before recovering easily, continuing, "which is here on my desk."

Jane walked slowly back to Petra's -- Professor Moore's -- desk, letting several other classmates ahead of her. Petra's eyes kept darting back at Jane every few seconds, but other than that, she acted like she didn't recognize Jane.

Finally arriving at the desk, almost the last one to do so, Jane kept her eyes on the seating chart as she looked for her name, letting out a small, exasperated sigh when she realized her desk was in the second row, almost directly in front of Petra's desk.

"Problem?" Petra asked at Jane's sigh.

"No, it's nothing," Jane said before making her way to her desk. Petra watched her for a moment before beginning her lecture. Jane sat at her desk, silently cursing her luck.

__

"Jane," Petra said as the lecture ended, "please stay after class." A moment later, the bell rang and everyone began to file out of the class. Jane stayed seated until her row emptied, then stood and made her way to Petra's desk.

Despite her dislike of Petra, the poetry class had been incredibly interesting and engaging. Petra was an excellent professor, if perhaps not quite as excellent to be around otherwise.

There was a brief, tense silence as Petra and Jane stared at each other a moment, before Petra cleared her throat gently and began, "Perhaps I should apologize..."

Jane almost rolled her eyes at the irony of this moment, but instead said, "There's really no need. You said what you wanted to say earlier, I think we should just... leave it alone."

"No," Petra said immediately, and Jane sighed. "Look, I was... a bitch earlier," Petra admitted, and Jane couldn't keep back a wry chuckle at Petra's choice of words, "and I shouldn't have been so rude." Petra looked down at her desk before continuing, "It's no excuse, but I have not been having a great morning and, well, I guess I let it get the better of me." Looking back up at Jane, green eyes wide now with sincerity, Petra asked, "What do you say we start again, Jane? This time, I hope you'll accept _my_ apology."

Petra reached out a conciliatory hand and her smile was hopeful, and Jane... Jane understood what it was like to have a bad day. Hadn't she had a bad year? Hadn't that doctor, Luisa Solano, also been having a bad day? At least Petra's bad day only consisted of a few rude words, rather than artificially inseminating her and mucking up her life plans.

And if Jane could forgive Luisa and decide to be the bigger person and drop the lawsuit, then Jane could forgive Petra and let bygones be bygones.

"Yeah, okay, Petra," Jane said, shaking her hand. Jane couldn't help but notice how soft Petra's hands were, yet how firm her handshake was. It made Jane smile. "I forgive you."

Petra's smile widened, lips stretching up to her ears in her happiness, eyes crinkling. "Great," she said. "Fantastic."

"Yeah," Jane agreed, almost speechless in the wake of how Petra's smile completely transformed her face. "It is."

Then the bell rang a second time and Jane realized she was late for her next class. Petra clearly startled out of the moment, but still smiled at Jane as she prepared to leave. "See you on Friday, Jane."

Jane waved and grinned as she left, "Friday, yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah so basically petra married lachlan instead of rafael, but rafael still had cancer and all those main events still happened (jane still broke up w michael but she and rafael didn't get together). (spoilery) the actual professor who the show is hinting might be a new love interest for jane is not an issue, haha. talk about a fix-it fic!
> 
> also, originally, i was going to have petra teach philosophy (or an actual romance language but czech is not a romance language so i changed my mind there too) bc tbh i feel it would fit petra p well, but poetry is a class you usually have to take for a writing major and i liked that for petra too, so.


	2. in the afternoon, you’re out on the stone and grass (and i’m sleeping on the balcony after class)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane runs into Petra again (not literally this time, thankfully).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was asked for more, and here we are. i wrote this in a rush, so i hope it reads fine! i'll probably edit it a bit more tomorrow.
> 
> btw, i'm not sure if this will turn into a full blown fic or not. i didn't intend for it to, but if i continue to have the inspiration then i'll write for it as much as i can.
> 
> thank you to everyone who left a comment or a kudos!

Jane's rocky start only continued into her other classes -- or , at least, one of them.

Her creative writing instructor, Professor Jonathan Chavez, had locked her out of the class after she took a call from Mateo's pediatrician.

Now, wandering around the college aimlessly until her next class began, Jane was resigned to the fact that she had probably deserved that.

Still, she was glad she had answered the call because now she knew that some calls were going to be immediate and life threatening and some weren't -- and for those calls, Rafael would be called, too, and someone would be there for Mateo. Even if it couldn't always be her.

Jane groaned in frustration. Graduate school was going to be harder than she thought. She wasn't pregnant any longer, and Mateo wasn't with her all the time anymore as a result. 

She had to be able to trust other people to take care of Mateo. She had to trust Rafael, and, soon, she knew, she would have to be able to trust a babysitter as well.

Jane sighed and sat down at one of benches outside the cafeteria. She would cross that bridge when they got there. 

Right now, with almost an hour left of her creative writing class left, she noted with a quick check of her watch, she decided maybe she ought to call her mother back and explain what had happened that morning, but before she could, someone was saying her name.

"Jane," Petra greeted, sounding surprised.

"Petra, hi," Jane managed, equally surprised. "What are you doing out here?"

Petra's nose wrinkled up as she smiled, "I think I should be asking you that, shouldn't I?" Petra, hands laden with several bags, sat at Jane's bench like they had known each other much longer than their brief feud-then-truce that morning. "You don't have a class right now?"

"No -- well, yes," Jane stuttered, embarrassed now that she had to explain she had gotten kicked out of a class for answering her phone. "I do have class, actually, but well. I was kicked out," Jane explained, and Petra's eyebrows rose. Jane waved her phone, in her hand since she had been about to call Xiomara, awkwardly in explanation.

"Oh," was all Petra said.

Jane laughed self-deprecatingly. "It's okay, I mean, it shouldn't be a surprise I was rebellious enough to get kicked out of a class after this morning, right?"

Petra shook her head. "No, Jane, I--" Petra paused. "I'm actually surprised because you don't seem the type. Despite our... disagreement this morning, which was mostly my fault if we're honest," Petra said, "you were a model student during class. And that was after our... differences." Petra paused again, more hesitant this time as she asked, "What exactly happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jane was abruptly cognizant of how short of a time they had known each other and how fraught that time had been so far.

And at the same time, she was aware of just how comfortable she felt with Petra now, how it almost felt like they had know each other for longer much longer than they did. How Petra had sat unhesitatingly at the table with her, unquestioning of whether she might be welcome there.

Maybe Jane was reading too much into it, but, either way, it felt right to lean forward and tell Petra what had happened.

When Petra, naturally, asked about Mateo, Jane felt comfortable enough still to explain her entire, convoluted history, from the accidental, artificial insemination to the kidnapping and finally to what led her to apply for graduate school to become a writer.

Jane glanced at her watch absently, sometime around when she was explaining how she wanted to be brave but also practical, and realized that they had passed almost forty-five minutes like this. She smiled at the realization.

"What is it?" Petra asked, smiling as well. She had dropped all her bags beside the bench earlier when she had settled in to talk with Jane.

"Nothing," Jane said, then added, gesturing at Petra's bags, "Were you going somewhere earlier? I think I kept you."

Petra looked at her bags, almost surprised that they were there, like she had forgotten all about them, so immersed in her conversation with Jane.

"Oh," Petra said blankly, "they're for my mother." Petra seemed a little more withdrawn now that they were talking about her, Jane noticed, and she remembered how Petra had said she wasn't having a good day herself. Jane wasn't sure how to bring it up, but she needn't have worried because Petra continued, "She needed me to pick up some things on the way to the school this morning. I was going to take them to her during my free period, but then I ran into you."

Petra was smiling, so Jane knew she didn't mind being derailed. Jane peered at the bags curiously and saw a few of them items popping out from the top. "What does your mother need... lemons, whiskey, and tuna for?"

Petra gave a stilted laugh and said, "Who knows?" Jane sensed there was more to it, but left it alone. Just because she had opened up so easily didn't mean Petra was as comfortable doing so. Still...

"Petra," Jane started carefully. "Uh, what happened this morning? To make your day bad, that is. You said earlier..." Jane trailed off, suddenly feeling very rude as Petra's shoulders visibly tensed. "I'm sorry, forget it. I'm probably overstepping. No, make that _definitely_ overstepping. You hardly know me, and--"

"It's okay," Petra interrupted. She was still a little uncomfortable and unsure, but her shoulders had relaxed minutely. "It's nothing really, it's just... well, you're not the only one with a, as you say, 'telenovela worthy story'. My mother and I... we have a very complicated relationship. I recently found out she was lying to me about something very important, and it's put a strain on our relationship. More of a strain than there already had been, I should say."

Petra was now checking her own watch every few seconds as she talked, and Jane felt sorrier than ever for asking. "Petra, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I know I revealed a lot, but that's how I am. I'm a very open person, and you're not. It's okay."

Jane didn't mention that, despite the fact that she was an open person, she wasn't usually this open with everyone.

Petra let out a small, relieved sigh. "Thank you, Jane," she said gratefully. She glanced at her watch again, and then said, "I should probably take these to her right now, actually, but..." Petra suddenly looked awkward and Jane thought that maybe Petra decided she'd said too much or that their friendship was inappropriate, as professor and student, but instead Petra suggested, "Maybe we can talk again tomorrow." Hopefully, it won't be because you were kicked out of a class again," she joked lamely, then added, haltingly, "Unless you don't want to, of course. There's always Friday."

Petra bit her lip, unsure, and Jane smiled at Petra's nerves and had the overwhelming and ridiculous sense that Petra was asking her on a date. Dismissing her thoughts, she said, "No, yeah, definitely, I'd love to. So tomorrow, then?"

Petra smiled, the one that made her eyes crinkle, and said, "Perfect. Tomorrow, then. Goodbye, Jane."

"Bye, Petra."

Jane watched Petra leave, then decided to send a quick text to Xiomara. _Cold feet earlier_ , she explained. _Then I crashed into someone and that's why I had to hang up. Also got kicked out of class, which is why I'm even texting. I'll explain when I get home._

She checked the time (five minutes until the bell rang) and sent off one last text before walking to her next class. 

_Anyway, you'll never guess who I befriended today._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> petra's canon past is coming into play! and don't worry, this is still a jetra fic and chavez will not be an issue.


	3. how am i supposed to pretend i never want to see you again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jane talks out her first day at graduate school with xiomara and her first week with rafael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not a lot of jetra interaction in this chapter, sorry! next chapter!

"Wait, tell me again," Xiomara interrupted, before adding, "You have the worst luck, Jane, honey, I swear."

It was late at night, Mateo was sleeping, and Jane and Xiomara had finally found the time to talk about Jane's eventful morning.

"Petra ended up being Professor Moore, and Professor Chavez kicked me out of class." Xiomara burst out laughing - again - and Jane rolled her eyes. She pushed Xiomara away from her lightly, further onto her bed, where they were talking in Jane's room. "Okay, but Petra and I ended up being friends, so how bad can my luck be really?"

"Well, you did ditch class to answer an important call that turned out to not be important," Xiomara pointed out - unhelpfully, in Jane's opinion.

"Thanks," Jane said sarcastically. Xiomara laughed again.

"Jane, I know that you want and need to choose Mateo over other important things," Xiomara said, and Jane heard the unspoken 'like Michael' reverberating around the room, "but Rafael or I or Abuela or Rogelio or maybe a nanny can help and be there during times when you can't."

Jane nodded. "I know, I realized that today, too."

"You're right, though," Xiomara said, "you're luck isn't too bad. There's always tomorrow for your writing class, and this Petra sounds... nice." Jane laughed this time. "You know what I mean, that turned out well. You seem to like her."

"I do," Jane confirmed and was surprised by how much she meant it. "Do you think it's sad that the only friend I made today was a professor and the only enemy I made today was a different professor?"

Xiomara bit her hip so she wouldn't laugh again. "That's your luck, Jane. The 'not too bad' luck."

"The Villanueva luck," Jane corrected, and Xiomara elbowed her. "How are things with Dad, by the way?"

So Xiomara began to fill Jane in - about the novela and Luciana - and Jane listened and eventually fell asleep on her mom's shoulder.

_

They couldn't find the time to really talk the following day, but Jane still saw Petra the next day and throughout the week before Friday.

On Tuesday, they ran into each other in the restrooms, and Petra had given Jane tips about moisturizers and lotions for her hands. Jane had smiled at Petra's nervous small talk and bought one of the moisturizers on a whim on her commute home.

On Wednesday, Jane bumped into her again - literally - as she hurried to catch the bus, but instead of arguing like on Monday, they laughed and Petra offered to give Jane a ride home.

Jane was a second away from accepting, but instead said no and rode the bus, unsure yet how she felt about being so comfortable around Petra.

Petra had seemed a little surprised at herself for offering, and Jane knew she wasn't the only one feeling their connection.

On Thursday, they saw each other only in passing as Jane walked to her creative writing class, except this time Petra was walking with a shorter, brown-haired man in a suit. She waved at Jane and smiled and Jane reciprocated, but absently wondered the rest of the day who he was.

By now, she was familiar with most of the staff, if only by their faces, and she had never seen him before - yet he still looked vaguely familiar.

Eventually it began to knaw at her, the familiarity itching away at her while she was writing and distracted her while she was talking to Rafael about Mateo's doctor's appointments.

It wasn't long before Rafael noticed.

"Jane? You still there?" he asked when she had gone quiet in thought, racking her brain to figure out where she had seen Petra's mystery man's face before.

"Yeah, sorry," Jane said, still audibly distracted. "Sorry, I have a lot on my mind."

"School?" Rafael guessed, and Jane murmured her assent. It was the truth, or at least related enough. "You can tell me, Jane. We're still friends, I hope."

And they were. Despite their short-lived romance, they came out of it with their friendship intact. It was a little more strained with Michael, considering everything going on with Sin Rostro, but their friendship was okay too, and Jane didn't know a lot of other people still friends with their exes, especially when their dating history was so drawn.

Jane had left Michael for Rafael, and Rafael had broken up with her after the failed proposal and the weight of the stress that came with everything happening in his life. And while it had broken Jane's heart at the time, she understood now, with time, that it had been for the best.

Both break ups had been for the best because with everything that had been happening in Jane's life lately, it had given her the opportunity to stay grounded and remember who she was while focusing her attention between Mateo and graduate school. Which meant -

"Yeah, we are," Jane agreed, "but it's really not a big deal." And she explained what had happened on Monday and the days in between.

Rafael has been suspiciously silent throughout the story, and when he was finished, he only asked, "Her name is Petra?" but it wasn't really a question.

"Do you know her?" Jane asked instead of answering.

"Yeah, sort of," Rafael admitted, and he sounded far away. "She's married to Lachlan Moore, he works for my dad. _Technically_ , he's my boss," Rafael added, bitterly. "He was at the Marbella recently, do you remember?"

And she did remember: Lachlan had been going to take over the Marbella, but Luisa, thankfully, gave Rafael her shares and prevented what would have surely been another drama in their already telenovela-esque lives.

"Oh," Jane said and she felt curiously blank in light of all this information, at the realization that that's who Petra had been walking with at the school. All she could think was "Petra's married to him?" - apparently all she could say, too.

"Yeah, but they're separated right now, I think," said Rafael. "She cheated on him."

"Oh," Jane repeated. "They seemed pretty chatty when I saw them."

"Well, maybe they're getting back together," Rafael said, clearly done with the topic of conversation. Jane wished she could be, too.

"How did you know she cheated on him?" Jane asked before she could stop herself. Rafael sighed.

"Because Lachlan told me. Before... when I first met Petra, Lachlan had just gotten the promotion I was supposed to get. I was bitter," Rafael explained reluctantly, and Jane wisely didn't comment that he _still_ sounded bitter, "and I tried to... steal Petra from him. She turned me down." There was silence for a moment. "Lachlan made a comment about it. I guess she changed her mind with someone else."

Jane hummed, bemused. Her mind was already racing far past their conversation, and when they returned to talking about Mateo and the upcoming holidays, she was still distracted.

Jane had class with Petra tomorrow, and she had to process this information tonight in order not to blurt it out at Petra as soon as she saw her.

She could already tell that tomorrow was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: i fixed some mistakes in this chapter (mainly a sentence about why petra and jane don't hang out this chapter, a sentence about michael that was a little contradicting, and the ending sentence that sounded too abrupt), and would appreciate a beta if anyone is interested.

**Author's Note:**

> please review, it really helps this author out with inspiration!


End file.
